Age of Consent in Netherlands

What is the Netherlands Age of Consent?

The Age of Consent in Netherlands is 16 years old. The age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 15 or younger in Netherlands are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape or the equivalent local law.

Netherlands statutory rape law is violated when an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under age 16 out of wedlock. Close in age exemptions, at the descretion of the prosecution, exist for minors close in age in a relationship within ""social-ethical norms""(outside of these norms could be a group sex or even an unequal relationship, meaning that the offender was not in love with the victim)

Netherlands has two territories that have their own local age of consent laws. These territories are listed in the following table:

Netherlands has a close-in-age exemption. A close in age exemptions, commonly known as "Romeo and Juliet law" in the United States, is a law designed to prevent the prosecution of underage couples who engage in consensual sex when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both are below the age of consent.

Depending on the situation, the Netherlands close-in-age exemption may completely exempt qualifying close-in-age couples from the age of consent law, or merely provide a legal defence that can be used in the event of prosecution.

AgeOfConsent.net is a free public resource site, and cannot offer legal advice. All information provided AS-IS with no warranty of accuracy.
If you are a victim of sexual assault or statutory rape, call the 24-hour RAINN help hotline at 800-656-HOPE